I was reminded recently that there hasn’t been an update from Mercy Tech Mission for a while – since last June, to be exact – and I can only hide behind the excuse that it’s been an extremely busy summer for me since returning home from Africa. As some of you may know, when I’m not travelling with Mercy Tech Mission, I am busy running a small renovation business here in the Okanagan Valley, and this year has been busier than most. But the fall season is well upon us and there are a number of upcoming trips that I need to tell you about.

Many of you have been following the ongoing activities of Mercy Tech Mission for quite some time now, and it occurred to me the other day that it’s time I shared with you the honest truth.

Okay, I’ll bet you weren’t expecting me to say that.

No, I haven’t been telling lies in the past, and I’m also not referring to what recent politicians have labeled as “alternative facts”. (And actually, if you think about it, the phrase ‘the honest truth’ doesn’t really make sense unless there really is something we could call ‘dishonest truth’. But I digress...)

The truths that I’m referring to are the small but important things that go on behind, or perhaps along with, the larger events that occur...

It’s no secret that travel is a big part of Mercy Tech Mission – before we can share our skills, we have to go to where the students are.

That, of course, sounds pretty obvious, but when you stop and consider how many miles MTM volunteers have put on since we began travelling in 2011, it’s mind-boggling. By the time you read this, there will have been over 18 trips to places like Mozambique, Swaziland and the Baja, with over 20 different volunteers taking part.

Another successful week of training has just been completed at our San Quintin location in the California Baja. Aaron Rustenburg from Paul’s Auto Service in St. Catharines, Ontario and Rick Cogbill of Mercy Tech Mission have just returned with reports that the mechanics training program at the One Life One Chance mission base is really gaining traction.

Ok, so I’ve been reading too many Louis L’Amour novels lately. But on July 2nd a young man from Ontario will actually make his way west and south to take part in a Mercy Tech Mission training trip to the California Baja.

Very shortly our second Mercy Tech team for 2016 will be heading down to the Baja to carry on the automotive mechanics training work at the One Life One Chance mission base in San Quintin. The team leaves March 12th and will be in the Baja for one week.

A recent iPad photo from my wife tells me there’s snow in our backyard back in Canada, but when you’re in the Baja surrounded by dust and heat, it’s hard to take that seriously. I’m sure I’ll view it differently once I’m home next week…

Some of those “firsts” we recall vividly and some we don’t remember at all. Maybe we were too young or maybe we were just distracted by something else. But those first time exposures can impact us for a lifetime.